Councilman: Firms That Want To Help Build Border Wall Should Not Work For City Of L.A.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Los Angeles City Councilman wants to require any companies hoping to land work building a proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico to disclose that information as part of any bid to work with the city.

The motion authored by City Councilman Gil Cedillo calls for transparency for any firm bidding to work on the wall, but would not be an outright ban on any such contractors. Instead, according to Cedillo, it’s aimed at sending a message to potential bidders that they should avoid helping build the wall.

“Let’s be real. The border wall is a threat to our values, our vision and our well being of Los Angeles,” Cedillo said Thursday at a news conference flanked by immigration rights advocates and union leaders on the steps of City Hall. “We are creating transparency. We want the city to know, the citizens of the city and the residents of the city to know where their resources are going. And we think that it’s imperative, it’s our duty, particularly given the folly of this proposal.”

“President Trump’s border wall initiative is meant to divide communities. We are more interested in bridging communities,” he added.

The motion – which is expected to be introduced at Friday’s City Council meeting during a new conference at L.A. City Hall – would also impose strict penalties and fines on any company that fails to disclose its involvement with the wall.

Still, as Cedillo pointed out, it doesn’t go as far as similar legislation in San Francisco or a bill currently in the state Legislature that would outright ban companies bidding on the wall from holding any contract with the state.

Groups such as the Federation of California Builders Exchanges (CALBX) and the Southern California Contractors Association have voiced their opposition to the state bill that would blacklist contractors which bid on the wall.

“Those individuals who abuse their elected positions to impose political judgments against businesses who are trying to lawfully operate in California will only serve to further drive companies out of the state or out of business altogether,” CALBX said in a statement in April.

Despite being a staple of his White House campaign, Trump has yet to offer any concrete plans to build the wall that would cover much of the U.S.-Mexico border or to get Mexico to fund the effort.